bexar county & techbloc present
TECHFUEL 2023
San Antonio’s Largest Cash Prize Pitch Competition sponsored by Bexar County Innovation Fund
About the Competition
TechFuel is greater San Antonio’s largest cash prize pitch competition with $100,000 available in non-dilutive cash prize money along with resources and support.
The competition is hosted by TechBloc and is fueled by Bexar County Economic & Community Development Department
Startups located throughout the nation that meet the below eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply. The application deadline is September 22nd, 2023. All applications will be reviewed and screened by the TechFuel Screening Committee.
Requirements
The screening committee will determine which applicants advance to the semi-final round of 25 competitors based on the following criteria from their submitted applications:
- Meeting all necessary competition eligibility requirements
- Leadership – Does the team have the ability to reach the next level of success?
- Business Model – Is the revenue model realistic and sustainable?
- Execution – Are there strong growth metrics or measurable traction?
- Jobs – If success continues and scales, will this create more jobs?
- Impact to San Antonio – What makes the startup standout from a San Antonio impact standpoint?
- Quality of submitted responses in the application.
Competition Qualification Process
Semi-finalists will be randomly placed into one of five groups (designated as Groups A, B, C, D & E to participate in private pitch sessions with 4 to 5 judges through Zoom). Each group will be comprised of 5 semi-finalists. Each semi-finalist will go through a screening process that consist of a 5-minute private pitch and a 5-minute Q&A session. A finalist from each group will then be selected by their group’s judging panel to advance to the final round of the competition.
All semi-finalist groups will participate in pitching on Wednesday, October 4th, 2023 & Thursday, October 5th, 2023. Invites to choose a date and time will be sent out on Monday, September 25th, first come first serve basis.
All finalists are expected to compete in person at Port San Antonio for the final TechFuel pitch event on October 17th, 2023.
The TechFuel final event will consist of 5-minute pitches with a 10-minute Q&A session that will be delivered to a panel of 5 judges.
TechFuel’s Impact throughout the Years
WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE NEXT
Texas Startup Unicorn
Qualifications
Registered Business in the US
Be a properly registered business entity in the United States
(International companies are welcome to apply with the commitment of moving their business to Bexar County)
Headquarters
Preferably be headquartered in the United States
Validated Concept
Has been validated by securing non-dilutive or dilutive funding
Funding
Have received less than $1M from 3rd-party investors
ARR
Generate less than $2.0M in annualized recurring revenue
Presence in Bexar County
Maintain a company presence (office or remote employee) within Bexar County for a minimum of 12 months after prize money award date
MVP
Have a minimum viable product out in the market
Live Product or Service
Have a product/service that is live and has measurable performance metrics such as revenue, customers, or or have recently launched their service after successful beta testing results, etc.